I have 4 white leghorns and 4 RIR's and I would like to name them and keep track of them but they all look the same to me! Do you guys have any tricks for being able to tell multiple chickens of the same breed apart??
Differences in their combs and feather patterns. I keep a mixed flock with a couple of each breed. That way I only have to differentiate between 2-4 of each breed. You could also get some colored leg bands or even colored zip ties to place on them. Good luck.
Leg band or colored thick zip ties help. After awhile you can just tell by how they walk, talk or body posture.............. or maybe I'm just strange that way, LOL
My RIR's and Austrolopes all look different from one another. One is darker, one has a comb that is paler, a comb that has a weave. If you sit and watch you can tell them apart after awhile. Even my 2 all white EE's can be told apart on sight alone. Some breeds take more time than others. If you want to make it easy for anyone looking at them them bands are the best way.
One of the reasons why I started with all different breeds for my original 8 chicks was because I was afraid I wouldn't be able to tell them apart. However, now that I'm hatching incubated eggs, I often get several of the same breed, and it does take some close observation to tell some of them apart. Frick & Frack, for instance, are both bantam mottled Cochin roosters, so I gave them their similar names (because of their behavior, too), so I would say, "Frick - or Frack" when I spoke to or about them. But I can tell them apart now. Frick has more gold feathers on his back than Frack. I have some young White Leghorns I've been trying to observe closely so I can name them individually.
...If you spend time with them, you will discover how different they look, behavior differences, feather patterns, pecking order....etc. After a while you will be able to recognize them from a distance. I have 27 hens...and each are as individual as you and I.
This is why we haven't named our yet. I can tell most of them apart but there are a few that I can't tell apart. I plan on banding them with different colored bands when we name them.
This year I got several breeds, one reason is because my cousin talked me into almost all RSLs last year and they look so much alike I cant even count them to make sure everyone is present. I have to count eggs and hope somebody just skipped a day. With the new flock I will be able to say 3 of these, 4 of those, 6 of these etc. BUT word of warning coming home with 3 or 4 of each adds up quick!!!!!!
